


Hooked

by Lin_ifyouplease



Series: The Fairytale Ships [2]
Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: Adventure, Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Rapunzel Fusion, Alternate Universe - Tangled (2010) Fusion, F/M, Romance, The Enchanted Forest
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-01
Updated: 2016-08-14
Packaged: 2018-05-30 11:07:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 12
Words: 19,028
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6421537
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lin_ifyouplease/pseuds/Lin_ifyouplease
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>This is the story of how Captain Hook died, but don't worry, this is actually a really fun story. It's about a stolen princess named Emma who is under the control of a crazy young looking old lady named Regina and what happens when half of a thieving duo ruins all of the crazy lady's plans. You'll also read about dreams, crowns, kingdoms, magic glowing hair, somewhat forbidden love, threatening frying pans, and really cool looking lanterns.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> There are quite a few Captain Swan/Tangled parallels circling about in the form of gif sets, youtube videos, and a fic or two roaming about, but this is my take on the story of the Disney Animated film with the classic Once Upon a Time. WARNING: Significantly less singing than in the movie.

“ This is the story of how Captain Hook died. It’s a happy story, of course. There are swords clashing and hearts racing and there’s happiness and sadness and despair and peril along with joy and romance, of course. There’s always romance. But this is the story of how one man’s life changed forever. In fact, this story isn’t even all about Captain Hook at all. It’s also the story of a girl named Emma and it starts with the sun.” 

“Once upon a time, there was a magical kingdom across a bridge from a forest that rested on a rocks in the middle of a majestic river, surrounded by a great and vast forest with nooks and crannies all around. The king and queen of this land, King James and Queen Snow White. Their love was legendary, known throughout the land as the strongest of true love that could ever exist. They ruled their kingdom justly, fairly, and with a gentle and kind heart. They were so loved by their people that news of the Queen birthing the first heir to the throne sent the kingdom into a frenzy of happiness and anticipation. But it also sent the kingdom into a great despair when they heard the queen had fallen ill during labour and was slowly slipping away. The king did not leave her bedside and demanded that every member of the royal court look for a magical incantation to heal her.” 

“An old wizard in the castle, known as the Apprentice, knew of a single drop of sunlight that landed just across the bridge that created a gentle flower that had the ability to heal and restore all living things after singing an incantation. So all the members of the royal guard sprung into action and traveled across the river to the shore where the flower lay bright in the dark of night.” 

“Meanwhile, the former Evil Queen, Regina, had been using the flower to keep herself young and keep her magic stronger than ever until her triumphant return to take back what was once hers. However, when she tried to stop the guards from taking the flower, she revealed herself to them. They took the flower and locked her in a dungeon underneath the palace.”

“They made the leaves of the flower into a tea and fed it to the ill Queen. Moments later, a healthy and happy baby girl with the most beautiful and radiant blonde golden hair. Snow White and James placed a priceless crown on her head and presented her as the jewel of the realm; the most priceless little angel in the land. To celebrate her birth, the King launched a flying lantern into the night sky, followed by hundreds of others to light up the sky.”

“For those few moments, everything was absolutely perfect. But that same night, Regina placed a sleeping spell on the guards and escaped from prison, sneaking up into the room of the little princess. When she sang to her, the sleeping princess’s hair began to glow and she felt the magic working on her; making her young again. However, when she brought the scissors to her hair and chopped off a piece for her to keep forever, the light in the baby’s hair went out and turned brown all the way to the root. Gasping in horror and anger, Regina knew there was only one thing she could do. She stole the child and kept her power for herself, disappearing without a trace.”

“Regina took baby Emma to a tower in the middle of a hidden meadow in a high tower with no doors, only one window. Only she could break through the enchantments she placed on the window and around the tower. The only way to get into the tower was to climb, which would be absolutely impossible. The Evil Queen now had her flower back, but she was determined to keep it safe this time, raising Emma as her own with no knowledge of her real life. From henceforth, she would no longer know herself as Princess Emma of Misthaven, but Emma Swan, a baby born from powerful magic and placed into the arms of a woman who desperately hoped that one day, she would have a child of her own. Emma would never know about her parents and how they wept each night, never once losing hope that their lost princess would return to them as bright and happy as she was when she left. 28 years went by. Hope was never lost. Not for a single day.”


	2. Chapter 2

Every now and then, Emma Swan wouldn’t be afraid to open the window and let some fresh air into the little room. It was always a risk; looking into the outside world. Often times, as a child, she would open the window and see the birds, the trees, the cloudless sky, and the bright sun. It usually lead to her trying to find a way to escape, only each time she tried, she would be caught by her mother and locked in her room for the rest of the day. By the time she turned 18 and she still wasn’t granted her freedom, she decided it was time to give up and stay inside. One particular morning, she looked out into the outside world, wide-eyed at what kind of life she could have if she were “normal”.

“Oh no…” Emma told herself (something she resorted to doing since she was up there all on her own), “I don’t think so. I like it in here. It’s not so bad.”

In fact, sometimes it wasn’t so bad. On the days when Emma was feeling particularly bored, she would do every chore imaginable in a matter of minutes, then resort to finding all kinds of activities to do. Not to mention, she had to brush her insanely long and tedious hair that she carried everywhere she went. But when she wasn’t doing any of that, she would sit with a quill and ink and parchment, writing down every fantasy and idea she had in her head. There were stories of monsters guarding princesses in locked towers and how they used a magical sword to free herself from the clutches of the ferocious beast. Other times, she’d write about the swashbuckling tales of pirates aboard ships and on land, stealing whatever they can get their hands on, running from guards and riding horses through forests and sailing through waves. 

While those stories existed in her imagination, they weren’t entirely fiction. On the roof of the palace in the kingdom ruled by the sad king and queen, a thief and a pirate sailed to the kingdom in search of treasure, hearing of a priceless tiara that was kept in an empty locked room in the palace. For days, they had spent time thinking of their plan and finally, today was the day to execute their genius plan. 

The notorious team known as “Hood and Hook” slid down the side of a roof, ducking behind tall arches and towers to hide from the patrolling guards down below. Captain Hook, head of this particular operation, looked out at the brilliant view of the sea next to the forest and mountains ahead of them.

“Bloody hell…” he whispered, “I could get used to a view like this… in a castle… or maybe a big glorious ship on the high seas.”

Robin Hood, who was opening a panel on the glass roof of the room with the tiara, looked over his shoulder and saw his distracted friend.

“Hook,” Robin called.

“Aye, I’m used to it,” Hook sighed, “Robin, I want a castle AND a ship.”

Robin rolled his eyes. “With the money we’ll make from this, you can easily buy yourself both, now come on, then.”

Robin lowered Hook down on a rope into the room, which was heavily decorated with flags sporting the kingdom insignia. There were only two guards standing by the door. It would only be a matter of time before they would notice the crown was gone. Killian picked up the crown and was brought back up to the roof. The pair quickly jumped down and ran to the nearest dock with a little ship waiting for them.

“Just sail a little ways away and we’re home free,” Hook cheered.

When they stepped onto the pier, they were immediately met by the swords of the royal guards and the head of the guard himself, Graham. All of them were standing in front of the boat in Hook and Hood’s way. 

“New plan,” Robin nodded, “We run.”

Being chased after by guards not too far behind them, Robin and Hook dashed across the bridge and into the thick and dark Enchanted Forest. 

“Okay, okay, don’t panic,” Emma told herself from the tower in the thick and dark Enchanted Forest. She was standing above the hidden trap door that was placed used just in case Regina ever needed it. It was covered up by a small carpet, but Emma had just uncovered it, seeing her ticket to her dream, “Just send mother on a little trip, get out, and get back in before she could even notice. It’s brilliant. I think.”

“Emma!” Regina called from below, “I’m coming up!”

Emma panicked and threw her hair over the trap door to cover up her discovery. Regina suddenly poofed into the room in a cloud of purple smoke, appearing looking a little bit more grey haired than she would prefer to be. 

“Hello, darling,” Regina said with a grin, walking up and stroking Emma’s hair.

“Hello, mother,” Emma said, “I would like to ask a favor of you-.”

“Oh!” Regina cried, looking at herself in the mirror, “Would you look at that?”

“What?” Emma asked, coming up next to her mother.

“See there? I see a strong, confident, beautiful young lady…” Regina cooed, making Emma smile, “Oh look! You’re here too!” Regina burst into giggles and retorted with her usual, “Oh darling, I’m only teasing!” Line.

“Right…” Emma sighed, “but I wanted to ask you-.”

“Not yet,” Regina rejected, retiring to her rocking chair by the fireplace, “I don’t think I can take any more of this until you sing to me.”

“That can be arranged!” Emma said, pulling out her stool as usual and quickly starting to sing her incantation, causing Regina to panic as she grabbed the brush in her hand and brushed her hair quickly, the magic quickly making her young again, but when she blinked twice and looked at the corner of the room, she saw the carpet pushed away and the trap door revealed.

“Emma,” Regina scolded, “You were NOT planning ANOTHER escape attempt, were you?”

“What?” Emma asked, looking from the door to her mother with an innocent smile on her face, “Of course not-.”

“Emma, how many times do I have to tell you!” Regina groaned, “You want to go outside, but that is a foolish idea.”

“It’s only for one day,” Emma begged, “One day out in the kingdom together and then we can go right back home. I just want to see what it’s like outside of this place.”

“You are as delicate as a flower. Much too weak for a world filled with dangerous things. Like ruffians, thieves, pirates, disease, cannibals, men with pointy teeth, poison ivy-.”

“I understand, mother,” Emma sighed.

“No, I don’t think you do understand,” Regina snapped, “Because this keeps happening, but you need to get it through your head that what I’m doing is for the best. I’ve spent too long asking for a miracle like you to come into my life and I am not about to lose you because of your incompetence. You are much too… gullible, naive, sloppy, and quite frankly, a bit too chubby to survive out there in that cruel, disgusting outside world.”

Emma slumped back down in her chair, resting her head on her hand. She knew better by now. Verbal reasoning was something that never ever worked for Regina. She was just as stubborn as Emma was. Like mother like daughter. Soon, after a while, Regina kissed the top of Emma’s head then stood in the center of the room, putting her cloak back on.

“I’m off to get some food for dinner,” Regina said, basket in hand, “I’ll see you in a bit.”

She threw her hands up and disappeared again in a cloud of smoke.

“You know where to find me…” Emma said quietly, pacing about by herself once again like ever other useless day of her miserable life.


	3. Chapter 3

Hearts racing, out of breath, but running for their lives, Robin and Hook were dashing through the forest, jumping over fallen logs, rocks, and anything slippery on their path. It didn’t matter where they were going as long as they could outrun Graham and his band of royal palace guards. As they started to get further out into the woods, they started noticing wanted posters on several trees in the area. Out of breath, the pair stopped to catch their breath on a boulder surrounded by a couple trees. Hook stopped at one of them with a wanted poster on it and picked it up.

“Bloody hell,” Hook groaned.

“What’s the matter?” Robin asked.

“The price on our heads has increased,” Hook said, showing him the paper with both their heads drawn onto it saying “WANTED: HOOK AND HOOD”. 

“Best we get out of here as soon as possible, then,” Robin said, throwing Hook the satchel, “Here, you carry it for a bit.”

Hook nodded and threw the leather strap over his shoulder. At the sound of horses and Graham shouting in the distance, Hook and Robin took off running again in a straight forward direction, hearing the trotting of the horseshoes getting louder and louder. They suddenly ran into a dead end; a cliff slightly above them.

“Give me a boost,” Hook said, squatting down to get ready, “I’ll pull you up.”

Robin raised an eyebrow, “Give me the satchel first.”

Hook rolled his eyes, “Honestly, Hood, do you not trust me?”

Robin crossed his arms.

“Fair point,” Hook nodded, throwing the satchel at Robin.

Robin boosted Hook up onto his shoulders. Hook plunged the silver hook that replaced his left hand into the ground just behind the cliff and pulled himself up. He looked back down at Robin.

“Alright, now pull me up!” Robin called.

“Sorry, mate,” Hook said, raising one eyebrow with a devilish grin on his face, pulling out the satchel from behind him, “but I’ve got my hands full… as it were.”  
Robin gasped and looked down at himself in horror, “How the hell did you-.” He looked back up and saw that Hook was completely gone. “Hook!!!” He screamed in anger.

Hook continued on, finding the nearest path and following it. Closely behind him were Graham and the guards.

“Retrieve that satchel at any cost!” Graham shouted.

Hook saw the guards behind him and diverted from the main path, finding his own path through a heavily forest of trees, hardly any room for guards and horses to go through all at once. Graham had managed to get his horse through, leaving the others behind. 

“We’re gaining on him!” Graham cheered to his horse. He was so focused on being so close to Hook that he didn’t noticed the tree branches coming up ahead. At the sight of the first one, he was knocked immediately off his horse and fell onto the ground, the horse still continuing on ahead of him. 

Hook saw the horse charging toward him, but also noticed that Graham had fallen off. A smile on his face, he slowed down, then used his hook to grab onto the saddle of the horse, hoisting himself up on. He road off, seeing freedom just ahead of him. But it wasn’t long before the other guards were coming up behind him once again.

“Is this a bloody joke?” Hook groaned.

He looked to both sides of him, then saw a curtain of leaves coming up that he could hide behind until the guards were ahead of him. He jumped of the horse and fell onto the ground with a thud, the horse continuing to run forward. Seeing the curtain, he quickly ran behind it and backed up, hearing the horses and guards continue on past him. With a sigh of relief, he expected to fall back and land on rocks, but instead, he fell backward onto grass. He was already very far back into what he thought was a cave.

Hook turned around and saw a big bright meadow filled with grass and trees and flowers. In the very center of it was a very large and tall tower and no other buildings surrounding it. There was no way anyone could be living here this deep in the forest, especially with no way to get in or out, he thought. So he climbed up using his hook and pushed open the window at the top, landing inside safely. He opened his satchel and looked inside, seeing the treasure with him.

“Alone at last,” he chuckled.

With a sharp scream coming from behind him, Hook was whacked in the head by a piece of heavy metal and immediately knocked down to the floor. Emma was behind him, holding a frying pan in her hand. She suddenly backed up, looking at the man she had just knocked out on the ground. For a second, she almost thought she had killed him.

“Did you actually kill him?” Emma whispered to herself, “Well you have to go and check… maybe it might be easier to… you know… get rid of him if he were dead… Okay. Here I go.”

She sucked in a deep breath and tip-toed quietly up to the man. She turned her frying pan around so she could use the handle to gently poke his face. He didn’t seem to respond. Instead, she got on her knees and moved closely to him, her ear near his nose to see if she could hear him breathing. After one breath, she moved her face away from his. This was the first man Emma had ever seen that she could remember. There weren’t very many male visitors up there in that tower, after all. She brushed back his black hair from his face to reveal him, looking kind of handsome, the kind of guy that Emma would write about in her stories. The dashing hero. It made her heart skip a beat, her eyes going wide. His blue eyes suddenly opened and Emma screamed, hitting him once again with the frying pan to knock him out without even thinking. 

“Oh great,” Emma groaned, “Now I’ve gotta hide him before mother gets back.”

Her first tactic was to roll him towards the wardrobe on the other end of the room, so she did that, trying not to tangle him up in her loads of blonde hair. When she got him to the wardrobe, she opened the doors, sat him up, then picked him up and placed him inside, quickly shutting the doors behind her before he could fall out. Afterwards, taking a chair and placing it under the handle to keep it closed.

“Okay, let’s not panic,” Emma said, leaning against the wardrobe, “I’ve got a person in my closet…” She looked at the frying pan in her hand, then back at the wardrobe, then into the mirror; the same mirror her mother looks in to show Emma how pathetic she is. Her smile brightened, “I’ve got a person… in my closet! How about that, mother? Too weak to handle myself? Too gullible and naive? Well! We’ll just see about that!”

She spun around happily, then looked at the satchel that dropped to the ground when he was knocked out. It was lying open there, revealing what looked like a diamond on the inside. Emma pulled it out and saw that it was a crown; probably from the royal palace.

“If he has this…” Emma pondered, “Then he knows how to get to the kingdom!”

Emma looked at herself in the mirror, seeing the crown in her hand. Curiously, she picked it up to her head and rested it against long hair, letting it sit up there. It felt like she was a princess. A real live princess from the stories she had written. There was a handsome hero, a princess, an adventure ahead of them, but the only thing that seemed to be missing was a little bit of luck.

“Emma!” She heard Regina’s voice call from the foot of the tower, “I have a surprise for you!”

Emma gasped and threw the satchel and crown underneath one of the boards of the steps, turning around quickly to see the purple smoke appearing. 

“I’ve got a few sticks of that fancy tree bark you like so much in your coco,” Regina cheered, wondering over to the kitchen area, “Then after dinner we can have apple pie along with it! How does that sound?”

“That sounds fine, but I think I have a better surprise,” Emma said, backing up towards the closet.

“Don’t tell me you’re still on about this ‘Mommy & Me’ vacation day,” Regina complained.

“Actually, yes,” Emma nodded, “and I know that you think I’m not tough enough to handle myself out there-.”

“Oh I don’t think,” Regina retorted, “I know.”

“But if you just…”

Regina dropped her things on the counter and turned around, giving Emma a glare with a hand on her hip, “Emma, we’re done talking about this.”

“Trust me!”

“Emma-.”

“I know I can prove it-.”

“Enough with this nonsense, Emma Swan!!” Regina screamed, bringing her hand down on Emma’s cheek, “You are NOT leaving this tower. EVER!!”

Her scream echoed through the walls of the tower and even through Emma’s bones. The stinging pain resounded on her cheek, feeling it tingle and boil. With her fingers gently on the chair keeping the door shut, she carefully removed them, fear completely filling her body.

“Great,” Regina groaned, slumping down into her chair, “Now I’M the bad guy…”

Emma paused, feeling the pain in her face. Regina had never hit her like that before. Maybe she didn’t need Regina to do this after all, she thought. After all, she was 28 years old and didn’t need her mother to hold her hand all the time. Plus, it was very clear that something was now broken between them. She sighed. 

“All I was going to say…” Emma said quietly, folding her hands in front of her while staring at the floor, “Is that I ran out of ink and paper… for my writing…”

“But that paper is very rare,” Regina answered, “to travel there and back would be at least three days.”

“I know…” Emma nodded, “but… I’ll be fine… I just thought it would be a better request to ask of you than… leaving the tower.”

“Fine,” Regina nodded, getting up from the chair.

After they made dinner, Emma packed a basket for Regina with food she would need for the long journey. Regina assured Emma that she would be back in three days and not a single day later. All she needed was to wait for her mother to disappear in smoke and Emma would try to figure out a plan of her own. 


	4. Chapter 4

Once Regina was gone, Emma sprung into action. She opened the door so the mysterious visitor fell out and landed straight on his face. She picked him up, removed the threatening object in place of his left hand, tied him up to a chair, using her hair as rope, then waited for him to wake up, the frying pan and silver hook securely in her hand.

Hook slowly started to come-to, feeling very out of sorts; everything blurry in front of him. He blinked several times and shook his head. He looked down at his arms and saw they were tied with some kind of rope, also noticing that his hook was gone. He tried to push against the rope, but it was too strong In fact, it didn’t even feel like rope at all.

“Struggling will do you no good,” Emma said.

Hook looked up, almost feeling numb all over just at the sight of her. Tough and strong with the most beautiful green eyes Hook had ever come across. Everything about her was enchanting. His eyes had never beheld a woman more beautiful.

“Who are you?” Emma snapped, “and how did you find me?”

Hook cleared his throat, his eyes still wide with awe, “I know not who you are, nor how I found you, but may I just say…” His expression switched to that of a suave, sexy, and clever man, one eyebrow raising higher than the other, “Ahoy there. The name’s Hook. Who might you be-.”

He was cut off by the cool feeling of the metal of the frying pan pushed up against his face. “Who else knows my location, Hook?” Emma asked forcefully.

“Milady-.”

“Emma Swan,” she corrected.

“Fine then, Emma,” Hook continued, “I was riding through the forest, trying to run away from soldier because I-” He quickly stopped and looked around him, not seeing the brown leather satchel anyway. He suddenly panicked, “Where is my satchel?”

“I’ve hidden it,” Emma said proudly, stepping back and crossing her arms, “and you will never find it until you tell me what you want with my hair.”

“Pardon?” Hook asked, genuinely confused.

“You’re going to cut it, aren’t you?” Emma said, pressing the frying pan back up against his cheek, “and then you’re going to sell it for your own selfish needs.”

“Listen, Swan,” Hook sighed, “The only thing I want with your hair is to get out of it.”

Emma frowned, looking at Hook’s expression, trying to see whether or not he was lying. That was a particular skill she had learned to develop over the years.

“Really?” She interrogated.

His head position wasn’t changing at all. His breathing didn’t change. He just nodded once at her, keeping his eyes locked on hers. His feet weren’t moving. His breathing seemed pretty steady. He wasn’t in a hurry to elaborate or give too much information. She frowned again.

“You’re… telling the truth…” she concluded. She quickly turned around and faced the corner, starting to mumble to herself the possible options, “This might be your only chance to get out of here, even if it’s just for a little while. I could be there and back before mother even notices. He seems to be telling the truth… Ugh. What other choice do I have at this point.” Emma sighed and turned back around, seeing Hook struggle to try and get out of the chair. All of his moving around caused him to put too much weight on one side and he fell over onto the ground. “Alright, pirate,” Emma said, crossing her arms, “I’m prepared to make you a deal. Do you know how to get to the kingdom from here?”

“Of course,” Hook bragged.

“You’re going to be my guide,” Emma demanded, “Once you take me there and back safely, then I will return your satchel to you, but only then. That is my deal.”

Hook chuckled and rolled his eyes at her; this ridiculous woman thinking she could ever take his agency away from him, “See, darling, I’m not exactly on good terms with some of the people in the kingdom-.”

“That doesn’t surprise me one bit,” she scoffed.

“No matter. It’s not in your best interest to recruit me as your guide. Best find somebody else then.”

Emma shook her head and started to pull the chair towards her using her hair. Hook was suddenly frightened that she was strong enough to drag him and the heavy chair all the way across the floor towards her.

“Something brought you here, Hook,” Emma said quietly, “whether it be fate or destiny-.”

“A horse.”

“-but I have decided to trust you-.”

“A horrible decision, I might add.”

“But trust me when I say this,” Emma spat, giving her hair a big tug, causing the chair to fall forward only to be stopped by her hand so his face was inches apart from her menacing and intimidating scowl, “You can tear this tower apart brick by brick, but you will never EVER find your precious satchel.”

Now was the time for Hook to seriously start considering this formerly ridiculous proposal. There was a strange woman who had him tied up (and not in the good way) who was demanding a simple trip to the kingdom and back. It would probably take about a day and a half for the whole trip, they could come back, he’d get his treasure, then be on his merry way as though it hadn’t happened at all.

“So stop me if I’m incorrect,” Hook said, “If I take you to the kingdom and back, you’ll let me go free.”

“Yes,” Emma nodded.

“Well aren’t you a brave one,” Hook said, his tone of voice getting lower, his eye narrowing, his lips puckering, and a devilish grin forming on his face, “You’re sweet. I’ve grown quite fond of you. Perhaps we can come up with… some kind of other arrangement.” He raised one eyebrow, which caused Emma to groan and drop the chair, causing him to fall flat on his face once again, “Alright!” Hook surrendered, “Deal.”  
Emma released the poor man from her hair and he re-attached his hook, helping him climb down from the tower. Once he reached the ground, he looked up, the sun blinding him, keeping him from seeing the top of the tower.

“Are you coming, Swan?” Hook shouted from the ground.

A brighter and even more golden light came down in strands of Emma’s hair as she slid down it. It felt like she was flying. It was a feeling she had never experienced before in her entire life, sitting up in that tower trapped for 28 years. It was exciting and liberating. Just the idea of walking on grass for the first time was something that was foreign to her, let alone the idea of breathing in fresh air and looking up at a blue sky. When she finally reached the bottom, she stopped suddenly and slowly placed her foot on the ground, a physical touch she had never felt before. 

The excitement that took control over her body made her fall on the ground, feeling the softness of the grass, the smell of the dirt and flowers filling her senses, then touching fresh water from the stream, feeling it cool and gentle. Just as soon as that happened, she saw the exit to the meadow, her ticket to freedom. She started running after it without giving it another thought.

“Swan!” Hook called, running after her.

She broke through the leaf curtain and saw the outside world, breathing it all in. In this very moment, the first time she had ever left that tiny little tower in that tiny little meadow, locked away from the rest of the world, now finally free to explore an entire planet of possibilities, Emma Swan finally felt like now her life could truly begin.


	5. Chapter 5

 

Emma saw the birds flying past her, inches away from her body, once again, another thing she had never seen before. There were trees everywhere and rocks and animals and sunlight and breezes and scents she had never smelled before. It was so overwhelming that it made her jump a little bit with glee.

“I can’t believe I did this…” she murmured, then suddenly getting more excited, “I can’t believe I’m doing this!”

She looked over her shoulder and saw a little lake with rocks big enough to sit on in the middle of it. She gasped and ran towards it.  Hook was chasing after her, almost out of breath and unable to keep up with her. When she got to the river, she walked on the rocks and picked up the flowers on the lily pads, admiring them as she contemplated.

“Mother would be furious,” she sighed, “but… that’s okay! What she doesn’t know won’t exactly hurt her, right?”  
Her eyes widened at the sight of a deep and dark cave off in the distance with different kind of rocks forming shapes she had never seen before. As she looked into the deep abyss of the cave, she thought of how dark and cold it was and how her mother would feel when she comes back to see her only daughter gone.

“Oh no…” Emma cried, slumping to the ground, “This would kill her…”

Hook came in after her, out of breath, which made Emma look over her shoulder to see a slight hill with bunches of leaves all around the place. She got up and started running towards them, making Hook groan in frustration. Standing at the top of the hill, she suddenly ran down it, feeling the drop in her gut as her weight pulled her down.

“This is so fun!” Emma cheered, falling and landing in a pile of leaves.

She giggled and looked up at the tree she was standing in front of, starting to climb up it. When she got to the first branch, she remembered what it was like in that tower, how she was able to see the whole meadow from just her window. It was a beautiful view and she had taken advantage of it and all her mother had done for her. She threw her head against the tree.

“I am horrible daughter,” she groaned, “I have to go back.”

Hook shrugged.

Emma saw another bigger hill just off in the distance, leading to a big wide field with no trees, only flowers and bushes surrounding it. She gasped and jumped down from the tree, running towards it. There was a whole field for her to just relax in and do whatever she wanted; something she couldn’t do at all while locked up in that stupid tower.

“I am never going back!” She shouted, rolling down in the hill, her hair following behind her.

Emma lay there in the flowers, staring up at the sun. Hook soon followed after her, walking slowly down the hill. The more Emma looked at the sun, the more she thought about where she came from. Regina always told her that she used to wish as hard as she could every single night for a miracle of her own. Emma Swan was a gift from a single drop of sunlight, Regina would say. She was born from magic specifically for Regina and now Emma had let her down and broken her heart just for her own selfish reasons. By the time Hook had reached Emma, she sat up and cried into her hands.

“I am a despicable human being,” she sniffed.

Hook sat down next to her and sighed, getting comfortable there for a moment as she let out her emotions once again.

“You know,” Hook said, “Now, stop me if I’m wrong, but I think you’re a little bit at war with yourself, love. From what I’m observing, you’ve got yourself in quite the predicament. Overprotective mother who can’t seem to live without her precious daughter, forbidden adventure as an act of desperation for freedom, this is quite the tale you’ve spun here. This would absolutely crush your mother’s heart.”

“It would…” Emma sighed, “but after all she’s done to me-.”

“It doesn’t matter,” Hook assured her, “I’m sure she has her reasons. She’s your mother, after all. If she can forgive you for this, then you certainly can forgive her.”

Emma sniffed and nodded, “You’re right, Hook…”

“I usually am,” he boasted, helping her stand up with him, “So how about I let you out of that deal and I can take you back to the tower. Your mum will never have to know what happened and we can part ways as unlikely friends. What do you say, Swan?”

“Wait!” Emma said, picking up the frying pan that rested beside her feet, “I know what this is. You’re trying to get out of our deal so you can get your satchel back. No way.”

“What is it gonna take for you to give me my satchel back!?” Hook complained.

Emma placed the frying pan against his cheek again, causing his hands to shoot up into the air.

“I will use this,” she threatened.

Suddenly, the sound of the bushes rustling were heard behind her. Emma sprung into action, her frying pan at the ready, standing in front of Hook.

“Watch out!” She warned him, “It could be ruffians or thieves or pirates-.”

“I beg your pardon,” Hook frowned.

Emma’s eyes narrowed as the sound got louder and louder. She screamed once something jumping from the bush and used the frying pan to hide her face. When she moved it down slowly, she saw a white bunny rabbit standing in front of her, chewing on the grass. Hook grinned and patted her on the shoulder.

“Be careful, Swan,” he teased, “I’m sure it can smell fear.”

Emma rolled her eyes and calmed down, putting her frying pan down at her side.

“Sorry…” Emma said shamefully, “I guess I’m still jumpy… you know, since I’ve been shut-in for all 28 years of my life.”

“Understandable and forgiven,” Hook said with a small bow of his head. Jumpy, he repeated in his mind, a plan suddenly forming in his mind. If ruffians and thieves were what frightened her, then perhaps it was a good idea to try and scare her into giving up on this little adventure, making him one step closer to getting his satchel back; his ticket to his own freedom.

Meanwhile, just a few steps in the other direction, far away from Emma, Hook, and even the meadow, Regina was walking with a basket in hand, her hood over her head as to remain unnoticed. Her quiet path was interrupted by the sound of a horse bounding towards her. When the horse caught sight of her, it yelped and stepped back.

“Whoa!” Regina halted.

When the horse calmed down, she looked over at the saddle, seeing the royal insignia on it. 

“A royal horse?” She asked, raising her eyebrows, “but where on earth is your rider-.” Fear suddenly overtook Regina, “Emma!”  
Regina dropped her basket of food and raced straight back towards the leaf curtain. She pushed it aside and started calling for her daughter.

“Emma! Emma are you up there!?”

No sound. Raising her arms in the air, she poofed herself up into the tower, then started panting as she ran around the room, looking in every closet, every small space, in her room, in the cupboards, under her bed. The tower was completely empty and dark. Nothing was moving but dust. 

Panicked, Regina let out a scream of horror; her plans of staying young and powerful forever were destroyed. If she went at least 2 weeks without having Emma renew her youth, she would surely begin her descent into growing old and turning into dust. It frightened her more than anything. She turned and saw the rug hiding the trap door was slightly moved. Removing the stone that covered the door, she opened it and saw a satchel sitting inside, a satchel she had never seen before.

Regina opened the bag and picked up the shiniest object inside. When she saw it was the crown of the lost princess of Misthaven, she shrieked and dropped it, as though it burned her. Emma knowing this crown’s existence was one step closer to Regina losing everything. Now all that was to know was the owner of this satchel. At all costs, Regina was going to find this thief and kill them on sight. Folded inside the satchel was a piece of parchment. She unfolded it and saw the wanted poster.

“Hook and Hood?” Regina repeated to herself as she examined the drawings closely, “They will surely pay.”

With a grin, lightning struck and Regina disappeared in a puff of purple smoke.


	6. Chapter 6

As Hook and Emma went strolling through the forest in complete and total silence, they came across was appeared to be some sort of road with fences on either side. Emma commented that this was good; a traveled road means an origin of some point, meaning the kingdom. 

“Good,” Hook groaned, “If I have to trudge through this bloody forest another minute, I think I might implode.”

“Not much of a land lover, Hook?” Emma asked.

“Not at all,” he answered, “I was born with sea legs. In fact, that was originally what I was planning on doing-.”

“Escaping by boat with a crown you can sell somewhere far away from here?” Emma finished.

“Aye,” Hook nodded, “but my clever plot was thwarted by a guard with one hell of a grudge, hence how I ended up in this predicament.”

“A guard with a grudge? What’d you do to him?” Emma asked, “and where is far enough to disappear from here?”  
“Enough with the questions,” Hook halted, stopping on the road to see a dwarf tavern straight ahead, “Hungry, love?”  
“Sure,” Emma shrugged, “and don’t call me love. Where are we, anyway?”

“Apologies, Swan,” Hook said, bowing as he let her go ahead of him, “This here is a dwarf tavern. It’s owned by the seven dwarfs who mine diamonds just ahead of here. They know the land better than anyone else. Perhaps they could show up a short-cut to the kingdom through their tunnels along with a good meal to settle our hunger.”

“Dwarfs seem pretty harmless to me,” Emma said, “Let’s take a look.”

“Oh, I was so hoping you’d say that,” Hook muttered as Emma walked ahead of him.

When Emma pushed the door open, all eyes were suddenly on her. The stories Emma had written and read about dwarfs were nothing like the dwarfs she was looking at now. They were all scary looking, sitting in a dark tavern lit by nothing but a small fire pit in the corner. They were all wearing heavy armor with spikes and carrying weapons that could obliterate anyone in seconds. Emma gasped and held her frying pan out and Hook came in behind her, smiling.

“Alright then,” he sighed peacefully, “Where shall we grab a seat? Perhaps next to this fellow here with the axe.”

Emma walked past one of the dwarfs, who was wide eyed as he looked at the trail of hair that followed behind her.

“That’s a lot of hair,” the dwarf said.

“Aye,” Hook nodded with a big smile on his face, “She’s growing it out, and might I add, you have quite a lot of blood in your mustache. Swan, you ought to see how much blood this man has in his mustache!”

Emma looked around her, trying to collect as much hair in her arms as she could. These were the kind of people her mother warned her about after all these years. Hook tapped her on the shoulder with the silver hook, causing her to jump and gasp a little bit.

“Swan,” Hook said, feigning concern, “You don’t look well. We ought to take you home where you’re safe. Come along.”  
The door to the tavern closed with a loud bang. One of the dwarfs looked at the flyer posted on the other side of the wooden door. 

“Is this you?” The dwarf asked, removing his hand to show a Hook and Hood wanted poster.

“Bloody hell,” Hook murmured.

“That’s him alright!” Another dwarf, Grumpy, shouted, grabbing Hook by his vest, “Imagine what we could get with the reward money for turning this guy into the royal guards!”

The dwarfs all suddenly started to cheer, passing Hook on to one another and taunting him, closing in on him. Emma panicked and started tugging at them, but none of them would budge. Grumpy elbowed her in the gut, causing her to fall down onto the ground. She grunted and got up, taking her frying pan and bringing it down onto one of the metal helmets of a dwarf. It made a loud ringing sound as the dwarf passed out onto the floor. All eyes were on Emma.

“Put. Him. Down,” Emma yelled, “I have been trapped in a tower my entire life and he is the only one who can take me to the kingdom so I can live like a normal human being for one single day. It’s been my dream for 28 years!”

Grumpy sighed and nodded to the dwarfs, who dropped Hook onto the ground with a thud. 

“I’ve got a dream too, sister,” Grumpy sympathized, “I know I look like a grumpy old dwarf nobody could ever love… but I once was in love with a fairy… and it’s always been my dream to be reunited with her.”  
“Oh…” Emma said, a little bit surprised, but sympathetic as she patted his shoulder, “Thank you for sharing…”

“We’ve all got dreams,” Grumpy said, looking at all the dwarfs behind him.

“I wanna be a pianist,” one of the dwarfs said.

“I wanna be a florist and grow flowers,” another said.

“I wanna decorate for the royal palace!” 

“I wanna be a baker.”

“I wanna open up my own dress shop!”

“I wanna perform puppet shows for little kids in the village.”

“What about you?” Grumpy asked, pointing an axe towards Hook.

“Me?” Hook scoffed, “I’ve got no dreams like you lot. I just want to be as far away from here as possible with piles of money and a ship.”

“See?” Grumpy said, “Even the stupid pirate has a dream!”

“Pardon?” Hook interjected, but was ultimately ignored.

“Thanks for understanding, guys,” Emma nodded, “Hook says you guys have a map with some tunnels that could lead us straight to the kingdom?”  
“Oh sure!” Grumpy answered, “We go back and forth between the kingdom and here all the time. We’re pretty tight with Queen Snow White, you know.”

“Queen Snow White?” Emma asked with wide eyes.

“The fairest of them all,” a dwarf said happily.

“You never heard of her?” Grumpy asked. Emma blushed a little and shook her head, “Well here, why don’t you stay and grab a bite to eat and we’ll tell you all about her.”  
“No, no, no,” Hook objected, “We have to get going-.”

“What’s your rush?” Grumpy snapped.

“Yeah, calm down,” Emma said, reaching out to touch his arm without even thinking about it.

He looked down at the contact she made with him, causing them both to look at each other and embarrassingly pull away. They had only known each other for half a day, after all. Hook figured that no matter what he’d say, Emma would still protest against him, so they sat down at the bar and ate while Grumpy told Emma stories of the kingdom of Misthaven. 

Meanwhile, from the window, Regina was watching, seeing Emma laugh and talk while standing next to that very same pirate whose picture was on the poster in the satchel. She would have stormed in there herself and slaughtered everyone if it wasn’t for the sound of horse hooves on the road in the distance. She quickly hid herself behind a tree as the royal guards started to approach the tavern. The lead, Graham, jumped off his horse and kicked the door open.

“Where is Hook!?” Graham shouted.

Hook instinctively jumped over the counter and hid behind it as the dwarfs started to swarm him, keeping him from getting any closer to Emma and Hook, who were both now hiding behind the counter. Hook looked slightly over the counter to see who was there, but all he saw was his old friend, Robin, in chains along with the royal guard. He ducked back down, a look of extreme guilt coming over his face.

“Hook…” Emma inquired quietly.

Grumpy, who made his way behind the counter, pulled a lever, making the trap door open, leading to a tunnel underground.

“Psst!” Grumpy whispered, “Go. Live your dream.”

Hook sighed, “I will…”

Grumpy frowned. “Not you. Your dream stinks. I was talking to her.”

Emma looked and Hook and laughed, Hook shaking his head and grabbing her arm, dragging her into the dark tunnel. 

By the time they had ran deep into the tunnel, Graham saw the open trap door.

“Two of you stay with Hood,” Graham ordered, “The rest of you, follow me. We’re going after Hook and ending this once and for all!”  
Graham, along with the other men, pushed Grumpy aside and followed Hook and Emma down the tunnel.

“Well finally,” Robin sighed, elbowing both guards in the stomach, then tripping them both over so they fell on the ground, unconscious, “I thought they’d never leave.”

He untied himself using the sword of one of the guards, then headed straight down the same tunnel the guards went down, knowing exactly who his target of revenge was. 

Regina, who was watching the handsome thief follow their trail, heard a dwarf start to leave the tavern. Without a second thought, she reached into the dwarf’s chest and pulled out his heart, demanding for the location where the tunnels let out. For Regina, the game was just beginning.


	7. Chapter 7

Once again, Hook and Emma were strolling to their destination, only this time, they were in a deep, dark, and slightly damp tunnel. Hook had picked up a lantern that was placed at the entrance and was holding it on the silver hook. 

“I must admit, Swan,” Hook shrugged, “You did quite well back there.”

“I know,” Emma bragged.

Hook looked over his shoulder, not for any particular reason other than to look at he and the confidence on her face along with that sweet smile that was growing, her green eyes bright with accomplishment and anxiousness. She caught his stare and he cleared his throat, facing forward once again.

“So…” Emma said, filling the awkward silence, “Born with sea legs, huh? Where are you from, exactly?”

“Sorry, Swan,” Hook rejected, “I don’t do backstories, but you’re in luck today because I am quite fascinated with yours.”

“Tread lightly,” Emma cautioned.

“I know,” Hook said, “I can’t ask about the hair or the mother or the whispering to yourself thing, but I do have an inquiry; if you wanted to see the kingdom so badly… why haven’t you gone before?”  
Emma stopped in her tracks, her eyes wide. “Oh… well…” Before she could answer, the sound of footsteps running towards them was heard in the echo of the tunnel, “Hook,” she called, “Hook, what’s happening?”  
“The guards,” Hook panicked, suddenly picking up the pace, “Run, Swan.”

“Hook!!!” The shouted of Graham called in the distance.

“Run!” Hook screamed, helping Emma pick up a big chunk of her hair as the started to run as fast as they could away from the guards. 

A faint light ahead of them started to grow bigger and bigger until they were outside inside a deep canyon with an irrigation system in place, the source being a large body of water held up by a wooden wall. Emma and Hook stopped in their tracks when they came to a high cliff that was straight down to the canyon floor.

“Hook!” Robin’s voice called as he exited a tunnel that was on the other side of the canyon wall.

“Who is that?” Emma asked.

“He doesn’t like me,” Hook answered.

Behind them came out Graham, face red and out of breath with his sword at the ready.

“Who’s that?” Emma asked again.

“He doesn’t like me either,” Hook answered again.

Several other men came out behind Graham, all with swords in hand as well.

“Who are they?” Emma asked once again.

“Okay,” Hook sighed, placing his hand on Emma’s shoulder, “Let’s just assume for the moment that everyone here doesn’t like me.”

Emma looked at the piece of wood that was in between two cliffs. She threw her frying pan against Hook’s chest as he took it from her. “That doesn’t surprise me one bit,” she grunted before throwing her hair over the wood and using it to fly across from one side to the other.

Hook watched her land safely in awe, “Wow…” 

“I’ve waited a long time for this,” Graham said, twisting his sword in hand as he approached Hook.

Several of his men approached Hook, swinging their swords at him, but Hook fended them off with the frying pan with at least two swings. One to block and the other to knock them out.

“Bloody brilliant, this thing!” Hook cheered.

Graham approached Hook next with this bloodthirsty eyes. 

“You’re not getting away this time,” Graham huffed, “You will pay for what you have done!”

They began to fight, sword against frying pan. Emma watched from a distance in fear as Graham started to back Hook up against the very edge of the cliff.

“You should know,” he shouted, “that this is by far the strangest fight I have ever fought!”  
Graham knocked the frying pan out of Hook’s hand as they watched it fall to the canyon floor.

“Hook!” Emma screamed, throwing her hair over so it wrapped around his hand, “Jump!”

Hook followed her and grinned at Graham as he jumped off the cliff and started to land on the ground towards Robin, who also had a sword ready.

“Robin!” Hook called, “Funny story, really-.”

“We’ll see who’s laughing when I-.”  
Hook flew right next to Robin and kicked him so he was knocked out instantly. He landed safely on his own two feet and laughed loudly.

“You should see the look on your sorry face,” he chuckled.

Graham grunted and kicked over a wooden peg, holding the old damm together. The peg fell and created a bridge across to where Emma was standing. 

“Swan!” Hook panicked, running to the base of the cliff.

“Hook!” Emma called back, trying to figure out a way to fly down like she did before, but the whole system was falling apart, causing water to fill the place up.

“You have to trust me and jump!” He called up to her.

She looked around once more, then realized he was right. “Son of a bitch…” With a deep breath, she got a head start and jumped off the cliff, crying out a little bit in fear. Thankfully, she landed safely in Hook’s arms. For a second there, she almost thought he either wouldn’t catch her or that she’d get hurt by the silver hook, but none of that happened. He was actually quite strong. In that moment, she got a really good look at his pretty blue eyes; as blue as the sea and the sky and the crystal clear water, which reminded her that the place would soon be flooded and they needed to escape through the tunnel if they wanted to get away from Robin and the guards. 

Hook and Emma scooped up the frying pan on the ground and ran into a tunnel which was now blocked by a giant stone that had been pushed over by the flood. They started to run further but headed directly into a dead end. Emma started banging on the rocks with the pan and Hook dove under the water to find another way out. He gasped for air as he came back to the surface.

“It’s no use,” Hook said, “I can’t see a bloody thing.”

But that was never an excuse for Emma. She dove down herself, but immediately felt Hook’s hand on her waist, pulling her back up to the surface. 

“Swan, don’t,” he warned her, brushing her now wet hair out of her face, “It’s too dark to see anything down there.”

But the only other option was drowning to death inside that little tunnel. Both of their expressions suddenly turned blank as they leaned against the rock wall of the tunnel.

“This is all my fault,” Emma cried, “Mother was right, I  _ never _ should have done this… Hook… I’m so sorry...”

Hook. That blasted name. The name of a criminal. The name of a swashbuckler. The name of a man who takes what he wants and gives nothing back in return. The man he was going to die as. No one would know the real man behind the hook. Here was this honest, strong, yet gentle woman crying her eyes out in front of him, possibly moments away from death. Then there was Hook.

“Killian,” he said.

“What?” Emma asked, wiping her eyes as turning to him.

“That’s my real name,” he admitted, “My real name is Killian Jones… someone should know…”

Emma nodded, then shrugged, “As long as we’re sharing… I have magic hair that glows when I sing.”

“Wait, what?” Hook asked with wide eyes.

Emma gasped, grabbing onto her hair with a relieved and lightened heart, “I have magic hair that glows when I sing!”

She quickly started to sing the first part of her incantation before the entire tunnel was filled to the brim with water. The spell worked and her blonde hair was literally glowing as bright as the sun, causing Hook to panic for a moment. Her hair started to lead towards the exit of the tunnel; a pile of rocks blocking the way. Hook swam towards it, Emma following after him. When they tore through the rocks, it led out to a river, the water pushing them both out.

They swam to the nearest patch of land and pulled themselves out of the water.

“We’re alive!” Emma gasped, stepping onto land and wringing out her hair.

“Her hair glows,” Hook gasped.

“Killian,” Emma called.

“Her hair actually glows,” Hook said to himself.

“Killian...”

“I thought that was a sick jest, but it actually glows?”

“Killian?”

“Why does her hair glow!?”

“Killian!!”

“What!?” He answered Emma.

Emma sighed and picked up the rest of her hair from the water, “It doesn’t just glow…”

“Bloody hell…” he breathed as he saw the growing soft smile on her face, “Why are you smiling like that?”

Another tunnel led to the inside of a hollow tree. That was the path that Hook and Emma were to follow, so naturally, when Robin found himself emerged in water, he swam his way to the exit he thought they might have taken. He climbed a ladder which led to a trap door with a pickaxe drawn on it and punched the door open, gasping at the fresh air filling his lungs. When he climbed out of the door and stepped onto the fresh dirt, he was suddenly faced by a beautiful looking woman wearing a cloak with a knife in her hand, pointing it directly at him. Robin sprung into action and drew his sword.

“Oh great,” Regina groaned, “It’s just Hood.”

“Robin Hood,” he corrected, “of Oxleigh. Who are you?”

“They used to call me ‘your majesty’,” Regina sneered

Robin’s eyes widened and he lowered his sword, “The Evil Queen… Regina? The one who rips hearts out straight from their chest?” He raised his sword again, “I warn you now, Regina. I am on a mission to take back what’s rightfully mine from a one-handed crook and I intend to strike down anyone who stands in my way, no matter how threatening they seem-.”

“Or,” Regina rolled her eyes, “You could stop acting like a wild dog chasing its tail and think for a moment.” She pushed her cloak aside to reveal the satchel on her arm. 

Robin knew that satchel better than anyone, especially since it was his to begin with. “How did you get that!?” He hissed.

“Now, now,” she giggled, “There’s no need for that.” She tossed him the satchel, making him drop his sword and catch it. Once it was securely in his hands, he opened it to see the crown inside, “Well, if that’s all you want, then you may be on your way.”

Robin frowned. “Is that it, then? No deals to be made? I thought you folk specialized in deals of all sorts.”

“Well,” Regina grinned, keeping a hand on her perfectly thin waist, “Now that you mention it, I was going to offer you something better worth more than a thousand crowns that could make you rich beyond all belief and that’s not even the best part…”

“What’s the best part?” Robin asked, lowering the satchel.

Regina moved her other hand from behind her back, showing the wanted poster of Hook and Hood, the reward price printed in tons on the bottom of the page. “Your revenge on Captain Hook,” she mused, “and revenge… happens to be my specialty.”


	8. Chapter 8

Hook, or Killian, as Emma was so keen on calling him from now on, set up camp just beside the stream. He said the sound of the waterfall was just soothing enough for a good night’s sleep as to prepare for the exciting day ahead of them. Once they finished setting up a fire pit, Killian took a piece of wood and started to spark it against his hook, but scowled and groaned as he did so.

“Killian?” Emma asked, getting up from the large log she was sitting on, “Why are you doing that? Are you hurt?”  
  
“No,” Killian lied, almost falling over to one side from losing his balance, “I’m fine.”

Emma shook her head, “Now you’re definitely not telling me the truth.” She calmly placed her hand on his right wrist, looking at him right in his eyes as she turned over his hand, the piece of wood falling onto the ground. There was a large diagonal cut on his hand which was now beginning to turn red.

“Killian…” Emma gasped, getting up quickly and sitting on the log, “Come here.” She started to bunch up her hair until she found the very tip of it, letting the rest of it fall to the ground in a pile.

“You’re being awfully cryptic as you grab your magic hair while looking at my injured hand like that,” He said worriedly.

She grabbed his hand and started to wrap her hair around it, causing him to jump in pain.

“Sorry…” she said quietly, “just... promise to remain calm, okay? This might seem a little strange…”

“I’ve seen quite a few strange things in my life,” he assured her, “For starters, a blonde woman with extremely long hair locked in a tower in the middle of a meadow I knew nothing about.”  
Emma chuckled, trying to hide away her smile before taking a deep breath and closing her eyes. As she started to sing, the root of her hair glowed bright yellow and spread further down into the pile at her side. The light shot up to the ends of her hair, which was wrapped tightly around his hand. When she stopped singing, the light slowly and gradually went out, Killian looking extremely confused and almost frightened at the sight of it.

Once the light had vanished, Hook untangled his hand from her hair and saw that it was perfectly and completely healed. He opened his mouth to say something, but Emma held up her hands in caution.

“Please stay calm,” she begged.

Killian paused and shook his head, “What? Why wouldn’t I be calm? I’m fine. You’re fine. Your magic hair is… magic. How long has it been doing that, exactly?”

Emma shifted over, looking into the fire pit, shrugging her shoulders, “Well… forever,” she answered, “My mother says my gift is so special that when I was a baby, people tried to cut it. They wanted to take it for themselves. But, once it’s cut,” she moved her blonde hair over her shoulder to reveal the single brown hair under all of that blonde, “it turns brown and loses its power,” she put her hair down, then started to take a bit of it in her hand, twisting it around her finger, “A gift like this... it has to be protected. That’s why mother never let me…” she sighed, “That’s why I never left the-.”

“The tower,” Killian nodded, “That’s why you never left the tower… and you’re still going to return?”

“Yes…” she answered, then frowned, “Well… no? It’s a little more complicated than that. You know, my mother has wanted a child for so long and when I finally came into her life, she wanted to do everything she could to make sure she wouldn’t lose me… she already lost so much in her life… I don’t think I could be the one to break her heart again…”

Killian sighed, not even wanting to crack open that can of problems. He took a stick next to the log and started to tend to the fire. Emma watched him do so, suddenly fascinated by the man sitting next to her, how he moved, talked, walked, presented himself. It made her curious. He said he wouldn’t give her a backstory when they were walking in the tunnel, but things were so much different now.

“So…” Emma sighed, “Killian Jones, huh?”

“Aye,” he answered quietly, still looking at the fire, “That is a sob story about a poor orphan boy whose father abandoned him on a pirate ship and sold him and his older brother into slavery. I’ll spare you from the rest.”

“No....” she assured him, patting his shoulder, “I want to know more…”

He raised his eyebrows in surprise. Nobody ever wanted to know about him like that. Usually at first glance, people recognize him as a wanted criminal and refuse to know more about him, his complexities and his struggles while growing up; how he came to be this way. Yet, here was this stunning woman, begging to hear the whole thing from start to finish. He nodded at her.

“My brother and I were slaves to a pirate who called himself Captain Silver,” he continued, “One day, we got into a shipwreck and we were saved by a couple of men from the royal navy.”

“You were a navy sailor?” Emma gasped, “But how-.”

“I’m getting there, Swan,” he chuckled, “My brother, Liam, and I were in charge of a grand vessel called the Jewel of the Realm and it was a fine life... until we were sent on this barbaric mission which got my brother killed… after that… things never really were the same. I became the kind of man I truly wanted to be-.”

“A pirate?”

He looked at her now, seeing her sad green eyes. “Aye… a pirate.... and a gentleman, of course. I had several women on my arm, one of which was the wife of one General Graham. He’s been after me ever since she drowned during one of my voyages. He’s the one who cut off my left hand in battle. I ran into Robin of Oxleigh a short while after. We changed our names to Captain Hook and Robin Hood, sailing to ports, trudging through forest, looking for enough money to sail off to a land unknown by all where we could live a peaceful and luxurious life.”

“And you betrayed him?” Emma asked.

“I suppose I did,” he sighed, “But we agreed in the code of thieves and pirates: any man who falls behind is left behind. I simply turned my back on him before he could do worse to me.”

“Maybe he’ll forgive you,” she suggested.

Killian laughed, “That would never happen.”  
“You don’t know that…” Emma assured him, rubbing the brace of his hook, “I used to write stories when I was trapped in that tower about thieves and ruffians being selfish and closed off and cold while stealing whatever it is they want… and the man I’m looking at in front of me… is not like that at all.”

Both of them expressionless, looking at each other in their eyes. Hers as green as the trees and the grass in the prettiest meadow, his as blue as the clearest ocean and the cloudless sky. Their eyes floated gently down to each other’s lips, but the sound of a spark in the fire caused them both to jump, then look down to her hand, which was still resting on his brace. With a deep breath, they separated, respectively clearing their throats.

“You can’t tell anyone about this,” Killian said, looking back at the fire, “It could ruin my whole reputation.” 

Emma giggled as she watched him get up from the log, “and we wouldn’t want that.”

He shrugged, “Careful, Swan. A man’s reputation is all he has these days. Now if you’ll excuse me, milady, I’m off to get more firewood.”

She smiled at him as he watched him start to walk away, but then stopped him, “Hey!” Killian turned all the way around, facing her with a needy look in his eyes, “For the record… I like Killian Jones much better than Captain Hook.”

He grinned, “Then you’d be the first… but thank you… Emma.”

That was the first time Killian had ever called her something other than “Swan” or “Darling” or “Love” or “Milady” and it felt absolutely magical hearing her name dance across his lips like that. Her heart jumped at the sound of it. She bowed her head to him and smiled as he left into the dark distance behind the bushes. Just as he was out of sight, her smile grew bigger and bigger, big enough to form a small blush on her cheek. She sighed as she touched it, never feeling that kind of heat on her face before.

“I thought he’d never leave,” Regina’s voice called in the darkness.

Emma shrieked and turned around, seeing Regina in her cloak, standing there with her hands on her hips.

“Mother?”

“Hello, dear,” Regina said, stepping into the light.

“How did you find me?” Emma gasped.

“It wasn’t too difficult,” Regina snapped, “I just listened to the sound of complete and utter betrayal and followed that.”

“Mother…”

“Let’s go home, Emma. You’ve gotten yourself in a enough trouble as it is.”

Regina grabbed onto Emma’s wrist tightly, pulling her forward, causing Emma to trip over slightly.

“Wait!” Emma pleaded, “You don’t understand. I’ve been through so much just in this one day and… I even met someone…”

“Ah yes,” Regina mused, “The wanted pirate, I’m so proud. Can we go now?”

“Mother!” Emma cried, “I think… I think he likes me…”

Regina laughed out loud, “Likes you? Emma, that’s nonsense! You’ve invented this whole romance in your head which only proves my point. You’re too weak and naive to be out here. How could he like you? Just look at you! I assure you, my dear, he’s not impressed. We’re going home before this strings out any longer-.”

“No!” Emma shouted, instantly staring at the ground in embarrassment.

Regina tilted her head with a demented grin on her face, “No? Oh… so that’s how it shall be… You think you know what’s best? Fine! Then go ahead and give your pirate what he really wants!”

She took out the satchel and threw it at her feet, the crown falling out onto the ground.

Emma gasped, falling to the ground to pick it up, “How did you even-?”

“This is why he’s here!” Regina argued, “If you think he’s so special, then put him to the test. Give it to him and watch what happens.”

“I will!” Emma threatened.

“If he’s lying, don’t expect to come crying on my shoulder for help!” Regina screamed, “You are on your own now, my dear!”

With a cackle she lifted her hands in the air and disappeared in her puff of purple smoke, leaving Emma kneeling on the ground, holding the satchel in her hands.

“Swan!” Killian called, coming back from behind the bushes with firewood, “Is there any chance I’m going to gain incomparable strength in my hand? I know it’s a little ridiculous but that would be quite amazing-.” On seeing Emma, kneeling on the ground, holding the satchel in hand, he stopped and dropped the wood to the ground, “Swan, are you alright?”

“I think…” she said blankly, looking up at him, “After… after all that you just told me… I thought you deserved to have this back…”  
Killian frowned as Emma held out the satchel to him. He slowly took it and opened it, seeing the crown inside. He looked between it and her, deep down wondering which one seemed more beautiful in his eyes at the moment. It was either the sparkling diamonds of the crown, or the sparkle in Emma’s eyes despite the amount of fear he could see in them. Out of impulse, he threw the satchel back to her.

“Why don’t you hold on to it a little longer,” he suggested, “Call it… leverage.”

Emma caught the bag in her hand and looked up at him, her fear fading away into a sweet smile. Perhaps he wasn’t lying after all, she thought. He did mention that he wanted to a be a pirate and gentleman. While he had done fantastically well at being a pirate, he was certainly well on his way to becoming a true gentleman.

None of this went by without Robin and Regina watching close by behind the bushes, awaiting the perfect moment to strike back.


	9. Chapter 9

Emma woke up to the sound of distant and blurry sounding music playing. It sounded like mandolins and strings and harps and trumpets. Emma had never heard a sound like that before in her life. It was almost frightening, an unfamiliar sound startling her awake in the early morning. She got up and walked towards the bushes, pushing past them to see a tiny little castle ahead of her with a long bridge connecting the forest to the castle and the village that surrounded it. Moments later, Killian woke after her, rolling over only to see that Emma wasn’t sleeping on the other side of the fire pit.

“Swan?” He called, immediately getting up and running towards the sound of the music.

“Killian!” She called back, motioning him towards her, “Is that it? Is that where it is?”  
“Aye,” he responded, “That’s the kingdom of Misthaven just ahead.”

Emma gasped and squealed in delight, running towards the bridge. Even though tit was so small in the far distance, it felt like just a stone's throw away as she raced towards it, seeing it get bigger and bigger. Every tree they passed with a wanted poster on it was immediately defaced and taken down by Hook so no one would recognize him walking about in the village with Emma.

“Be careful, Emma!” Killian called after her as she got to the bridge. She took a deep breath and stepped onto the cobblestone for the first time, turning back at him with an ear-to-ear beam, causing him to lose his breath and laugh just a little bit too, holding her long locks in his arm, “We should get this taken care of.”

Several small little girls, each with brilliant braids in their hair, were skipping from the road to the bridge as they began to cross along with dozens of others from neighboring kingdoms. Emma whistled to them and they turned around, seeing the long locks Killian was holding. The second she asked them for a favor, they screamed in delight and immediately went to work, braiding her hair so it fell just to her ankles, little flowers placed in it as well. If it wasn’t already possible, Killian thought Emma looked more stunning now than she did before, watching her braid swing from side to side as she admired it.

As they started to cross the bridge, following the girls in front of them, Emma watched as the village and castle seemed to glow with joy.

“What’s going on?” She asked, “I didn’t think it would be this-.”

“Festive?” He asked, “Aye. Today is the birthday of the lost princess.”

“Lost princess?”

“The princess born nearly 30 years ago to the King and Queen. She was stolen and they do all kinds of festive nonsense every year on her birthday as some kind of sign of hope that she’ll return to them one day.”

“30 years and they still have hope?” 

“Aye. It’s kind of theme with these people.”

Emma first caught sight of all of the color, the paintings, the dancing, and the music that took place in the village and immediately in awe of every bit of it. She looked around at all the vendors selling fresh fruit, different kinds of cheese, spices, oils, and flowers arranged in the most beautiful way. Killian could hardly keep up with her excitement. It eventually lead her into the library, full of new books she had never seen before and written by other people as well. She ran her finger along the spines of all the old books and picked up one with a green spine that matched her dress. 

Emma opened the book and took in the smell of the old paper, enchanted by the words on the page. Killian walked up behind her with a soft smile on his face.

“You like books, Swan?” He asked.

“I hope to write my own someday,” she said, hugging the book to her chest, “Maybe someday they can fill a room full of shelves like these for my children to read one day.”

“Now that,” Killian sighed, “is a beautiful dream you have there.”

Emma opened her mouth to say something, but heard new music beginning to play outside followed by cheers of people gathering around to dance. She looked at Killian with excited eyes and started to run towards the door. She suddenly stopped when she realized she was going alone. She frowned at Killian who shook his head at her. But she wasn’t taking no for an answer. She grabbed his arm and dragged him into the street where people were dancing with each other. By some unfortunate mistake, they didn’t end up dancing together. No matter how hard they tried to grab hands, they were always pulled away from each other. When they finally came together, the music stopped. Emma had practically fallen into his arms after tripping over herself and Killian caught her, holding her firmly in his arms.

With a deep breath, they separated and straightened themselves out as the sun faintly began to set in the distance. 

“To the boats!” Someone yelled.

“The boats?” Emma asked.

“Aye,” Killian answered, “to the boats to release the lanterns for the lost princess. It’s just another tradition. I could accompany you to find a dinghy of some kind unless you’d rather just return-.”

“No!” Emma said quickly, not wanting her time with him to end just yet, “Let’s go!”

Both of them ran towards the docks, Emma holding onto Killian’s arm as they laughed. They took one of the available boats and rowed out just far enough away so the kingdom looked like a magical portrait in the distance. Emma looked out towards the castle and sighed heavily.

“What’s the matter, Swan?” Killian asked.

“Hmm?” Emma turned her head, not even noticing that something was wrong herself, “Oh… I guess I’ve been looking out a window for 28 years, dreaming about what this day might be like… and now it’s almost over… then what happens? You know?”

“Well, that’s the good part about leading an adventurous life,” Killian assured her, “Once one dream is over, you get to go find a new one. Perhaps you could work on that library dream of yours.”

Emma smiled and nodded, “I’d like that…”

From inside the castle, all the way at the very top of the highest tower, King James and Queen Snow White stood just behind the glass door, a lantern sitting on a pedestal outside. It would be the first lantern to be released before the rest of them would fill the sky.

King James was beside himself, as he always was on this very evening. This year it would be the 28th time they would light a lantern in hopes his daughter would see it and return home at long last. He was looking down at the ground in complete and utter despair. His wife, the Queen, entered into the room, seeing her husband’s head hung low.

“Oh Charming…” Snow whispered, placing her hand on his cheek so he’d look at her, “She will find us…”

“28 years…” James sighed, “You’d think-.”

“Don’t say something that would snuff out your hope,” Snow encouraged him, adjusting his vest and crown, “She will find us. It’s what our family does. We find each other.”

King James nodded and sucked in a deep breath before exiting through the glass door, his wife on his arm. Together, they lit the first lantern and released it into the sky. Once the villagers saw it floating above them, they lit their own and released them all at once, lighting up the night sky with a golden warmth. 

Emma, who was sitting, staring at the wooden base of the boat, suddenly looked up and gasped at the beautiful sight of it. After all of that time wondering from a distance what this day would be like, she didn’t even know how blind she had been. Now that she was here, witnessing all of this happening in front of her, she knew exactly what was right. It was like a lantern had lit the way out of her own darkness. She knew what she needed now.

Turning to Killian, he presented two lanterns on his lap, a smug grin on his face. Emma smiled and took the satchel from her shoulder, placing it in front of him. 

“You can have this back,” Emma assured him, “Really. You should take it along with your freedom… I’m not scared anymore… Well, I was never scared, but I just… do you know what I mean?”  
Killian nodded and touched the satchel and pushed it to the side, placing one of the lanterns in her lap.

“I certainly am starting to,” he agreed.

With the silver hook, he sparked a fire on the metal of the lantern, lighting both of their lanterns. They looked at each other, Emma excitedly, Killian admirably, as they both released their lanterns into the sky at the same time. He watched her look at the sky full of lanterns in wonder. For most of his life, he’s been chasing down a dream, a misconception of what he thought his life was supposed to be like without really seeing things how they really ought to be. Ever since he became Captain Hook, it was like nothing was real; that is until he met Emma Swan for the first time. Seeing her there in front of him with her bright green eyes, in all her glory, felt like he had a future that was real and tangible.

Killian leaned forward and touched her hand, making her look at him. HIs hand felt like warmth. It wasn’t rough like she thought it would be. It felt like home. Her other hand reached out and comfortingly touched his brace. Without even speaking, they both knew what was being said between them. Everything was different now that they could see each other clearly. Hearts racing, Killian took a bold move and started to lean closer towards her. Emma abandoned her reservations and responded to him, looking directly at his lips, but his attention wandered away.

Standing at the other end of the stream was Robin Hood, his arms crossed and his brow furrowed. 

“Are you alright?” Emma asked Killian, seeing him look off into the darkness.

“Yes,” he answered, placing his hand on her cheek to caress her, “I just.... I need to take care of something.”

He started to row the boat and rested it on the rocky shores in the dark of night. Picking up the satchel in the boat, he stepped out and looked at Emma again, kissing her forehead gently.

“I will be right back,” he said truly, keeping a hand on her shoulder, “I need to fend off an old friend and I will return right back here. Wait for me.”

Emma nodded with a blank expression on face, his lips leaving a mark on her skin. She touched her lips, wondering what that feeling would be like if his had touched them instead. It would be her first one, after all. Not many suitors happen to stroll through the woods and make the effort to climb up a high tower.

As she watched him walk away into the fog and disappear, she clung onto the tall end of the boat, resting her head on the wood. 

“It’s alright…” she whispered to herself, really hoping she could convince herself to remain calm at the words she said, “He said he’d be right back…”


	10. Chapter 10

“Ah, there you are!” Killian said triumphantly as he approached Robin, who was sitting on a rock with the hood over his head, “I just wanted to say, I shouldn’t have left you behind to be captured by Graham and all his royal yes men.” He threw the satchel to him, “The crown is all yours. Truth be told, I will miss you, but I think it’s for the best.”

He turned to leave, but an arrow was shot right over his shoulder. Killian turned around and saw Robin with his bow and arrow out, another arrow aimed directly for his heart.

“Holding out on me again, Hook?” Robin asked.

“What is this foolishness?” Killian sneered, “All I have to return to you is the crown, nothing else. Now if you’ll let me be on my merry way-.”

“I heard you found something,” Robin threatened, “Something much more valuable than any old crown. I want her. I wonder how much people would pay to stay young and beautiful forever…”

Killian drew his sword and pointed it towards Robin. “You stay away from Emma!”

Robin immediately shot the arrow, but not at his heart. He shot it directly at his thigh instead, causing him to fall down in pain, leaving him defenseless long enough for Robin to run up to him and punch him in the face, knocking him out. After tying his hands to a sail boat and pushing him towards the direction of the royal dungeon, Robin dusted his hands off of any blood and walked back in the same direction Hook came from. 

Emma, seeing a figure walk towards her, sighed in relief. “Thank goodness! I was starting to think you ran off with the crown and left me-.”

“He did,” Robin said, coming into view, causing Emma to cringe.

“No…” she whispered, shaking her head, “He wouldn’t. What have you done with him?”

“Nothing,” he talentedly lied, pointing in the distance to the ship Killian’s hands were tied to, “See for yourself.”

Emma, blinded by love and heartbreak, charged off into the water, the level rising to her ankles as she called out to him, “Killian! Killian, wait!”

“We had a deal,” Robin hissed, walking up behind Emma and placing both of his hands on her shoulders, causing Emma to jump, and close herself off, “The crown for the girl with the magic hair…”

“No…” Emma begged, “Please no!”

She elbowed Robin in the stomach and immediately took off running, hiding behind a boulder to catch her breath when suddenly she heard a beating sound and a huff from a woman. Emma peaked past the boulder and saw Regina standing there, a large piece of wood in hand, and Robin on the ground, knocked out.

“Emma!” Regina called, dropping the wood and holding her arms out to her child.

“Mother!” Emma cried, running into her mother’s arms.

“Oh, my precious daughter,” Regina sighed, brushing Emma’s hair with her fingers, “Are you alright? Did you get hurt?”

“I’m fine, but how did you get here?”

“I was so worried about you, so I followed you and I saw him put his hands on you! I saw the whole thing!” Regina glanced at Robin, who was groaning from the pain in his head, “Quickly! We should hurry home before he wakes up.”

Emma started to follow after her mother, but turned and saw the sailboat, drifting farther and farther into the fog until he was no longer visible; the man Emma thought she could love with her entire being.

“You were right, mother,” Emma said, turning to Regina, “You were right about everything…”

Regina pouted her lip and took her daughter’s hand, “Of course I was…”

As they raced back into the forest, running all night long, Killian’s boat gently and slowly drifted to the port of the royal navy, his hands tied to the wheel as his leg was covered in blood, making it impossible for him to move from all the pain he was experiencing.

A guard who was keeping watch during the night saw the boat sail in and saw a captured Captain Hook, screaming to the other guards that Hook had been seized. The sound of the yelling and the armor clanking as they ran woke Killian up, screeching from the pain in his leg.

“Wait!” Killian shouted innocently, “You don’t understand!”

“Seize him!” The guard shouted.

The men boarded the ship was Killian tried to struggle. It only caused him more pain. They untied him and carried him into the halls of the royal dungeon.

“Emma!” Killian screamed just as Graham started to enter the scene, seeing his one true enemy shout for his life, “Emma!”

Graham had been waiting for this day since the moment he caught his lips grazing his wife’s before she left him and drowned at sea. For years, he’d blamed Captain Hook for taking his wife away from him. It was always Captain Hook, the one who ruins everything he touches, the selfish and greedy pirate. The man Graham was seeing being taken away was not Captain Hook. Graham started to think. Hook claims that his hand was cut off, meaning that he wasn’t always a one-handed pirate. There was a man behind that hook. There was another man who existed before he came Captain Hook. Whoever he was, Graham was seeing him now, scream out to a woman he loved; Emma. He knew the feeling. It was the same feeling he felt when he called out to his wife. He remembered the pain he felt; the suffering. Not just because the mother of his child was missing, but because when she left, his heart was with her. The woman Hook was crying out to most definitely had his heart.

They were to throw Captain Hook into a sell and finish the job from there. Graham had but an hour to make a decision that he may or may not regret for the rest of his days.

Regina took Emma back to the tower and magically materialized them there, back where Emma felt safe once again. She took her heartbroken daughter up to her room and sat her on the bed, spending time her hair and taking all of the flowers out of it. Once she picked the last flower and threw it on the ground, Regina sighed.

“There. It never happened,” she concluded, “Now, wash up for dinner. Afterwards, I’ll make you your favorite; hot cocoa with cinnamon!”

Emma sighed, looking down at the piles of books she had written lying all over the floor; the dreams she had created before all of this happened. The innocence. 

“I really did try to warn you, Emma,” Regina said, “The world is dark and selfish and cruel. If it finds even the slightest ray of sunshine, it destroys it.”

Regina shut the door and started walking down the stairs, humming to herself with delight. No matter what she could say, nothing would stop this pain from taking over Emma’s heart. Bunched up inside her hands, she felt the rag Killian gave her; the one with the insignia of the kingdom painted on it. It was gift, he told her at the time. It was a reminder of the adventure they shared together. Furiously, Emma stood up and threw it onto the ground, causing it to fall open again. What she saw next made her catch her breath.

Emma bent down and straightened out the rag, placing it next to one of the covers of Emma’s book that she had drawn herself. They were exactly identical. Emma crawled back and saw the insignia on every single book cover, frightening Emma as she clung to her bed. Suddenly, she closed her eyes tightly and saw the insignia once again, this time hanging over her like a mobile over a crib. Just to the side were a man and a woman, both wearing crowns, watching her in awe and happiness and joy and hope. The next thing Emma saw was her reflection in the mirror, wearing the crown that was in Killian’s satchel all along. She gasped and stood up, everything suddenly feeling very dizzy and fuzzy all around her. Her world had just changed. Every single thing she thought about herself was wrong. Being born from magic had to be impossible. She had read dozens of magic books and hadn’t read a single thing about it. She just assumed because her mother said so that it was true, but it was her mother that was problem.

Killian was being escorted down the hall by guards, one on either side, and Graham walking ahead of him, expressionless. In one of the cells, Robin was sitting there in the corner, whistling. Killian heard the sound and used all of his strength, despite the pain in his leg, to jolt himself towards the cell.

“Where is she!?” He shouted, “Where is Emma!? What have you done to her!?”

“It wasn’t me,” Robin pleaded, “I was tricked into the whole thing by the evil queen, Regina!”

“The evil queen?” Of course. Regina, Emma’s “mother” was the Evil Queen, the queen who was overthrown by the current Queen, Snow White. If Regin was truly the Evil Queen, then that means, in order to exact revenge for her own selfish purposes, she would have taken the one thing that matters most to the King and Queen; their child. Who happens to have a daughter brought about my inexplicable circumstances? Regina. Killian knew everything now, but that just made him ten times more frightened for Emma’s life.

“Wait! No!” Killian shouted as he was being dragged away, “Wait! You don’t understand, she’s in trouble!”

Emma pushed opened the door and stepped out towards the stairs. Regina heard the sounds and frowned.

“Emma?” She asked, “Are you alright up there?”

“I’m the lost princess,” Emma breathed.

“Speak up, Emma!” Regina snapped.

“I’m the lost princess!” Emma proclaimed, looking at Regina straight in her dead, cold eyes, “Did I mumble? Should I even call you mother? Since that is the title you have claimed for yourself.”

“Do you even hear how you sound right now?” Regina laughed, “Why would you ask something as preposterous as that?”

“Because it was you!” Emma shouted, marching towards Regina, “It was always you! You stole me from my real family all to exact your revenge and make yourself more powerful! I’ve spent my entire life hiding from people who would abuse me for my magic when I should have been trying to get away from you all this time!”

“So go!” Regina snapped, “Go and run! Where will you go? He won’t be there for you.”

Emma gritted her teeth together, “What did you do to him?”

“The pirate,” Regina snorted, “will be hanged for his crimes on this very day.”

Emma felt her heart turn to dust as she lost her breath, backing away and falling onto the steps of the stairs, “No…”

Regina sighed and rushed towards Emma tenderly, “Listen to me…. Everything is as it should be.”

The Evil Queen brought her hand down to touch her precious commodity, the blonde hair from the precious flower she had kept for all of these years, but Emma snapped and grabbed Regina’s hand. Regina gasped in pain at the tight grip.

“No!” Emma retorted, “You were wrong about the world and you have seriously underestimated me. I will never EVER let you use my magic again!”

Pushing Regina away, she fell into the mirror, letting it all onto the ground and shatter into a dozen sharp pieces.

Regina picked herself up, dusted her red dress off, then raised her chin, that dark, sinister expression covering her face, the same look that used to terrify people into doing whatever she wanted. It was the same spine tingling face she gave her victims right before she tore their hearts out and squeezed them in the palm of her hand. Emma was finally seeing who this woman really was in front of her. It was not Regina, the sorceress and nurturing mother. It was The Evil Queen, the scorned woman hell bent on getting her revenge.

“You want me to be the Evil Queen? Fine. Now I’m the Evil Queen…”


	11. Chapter 11

The long corridor of the dungeon lead to a big, wide open pit where prisoners are to be hung by the neck until dead for their crimes against the crown. Today, that rope was going to see the infamous Captain Hook. Killian Jones tried to break free from the grip of the three guards that had him bound, but they were simply too strong for him, especially since Robin Hood shot him with an arrow in the leg earlier. In front of them, leading the charge, was Graham, looking as stoic and emotionless as ever. The other guards were whispering that they’d think the General would be more excited as today would be the day his greatest rival dies. 

The five of them reached the door at the end of the corridor, but it was closed. Graham reached for the handle, but tugged on it several times to find that it hadn’t budged. 

“Open up in the name of the king!” Graham called. Only silence followed, “I will count to three, then! One…” Silence. “Two…” Silence. “Three!”

Graham spun around and punched one of the guards in the face, giving Killian enough room to try and knock out the other one. Together, they knocked out the last one and Graham used his dagger to cut Killian free. 

“Go! Quickly,” Graham said, “Before the others find out you’ve been freed.”

“Why are you doing this?” Killian asked, “You’ve hunted me for years. Why free me when I’m about to face Davy Jones’ Locker?”  
“Let’s just say you didn’t actually have the stolen article in hand when we caught you,” Graham sighed, patting Killian’s back, “and you also seem to know where the lost princess is… and since I’m a better man than you, I’m going to let you get your love _before_ she slips through your fingers.”

“Thank you…”

“Don’t mention it.”

“No really. Thank you,” Killian said, “Uh. I feel maybe this whole time we’ve just been misunderstanding one another, and we’re really just-.”

“Shut up and go get the princess,” Graham groaned.

“You’re right, I should go.”

Killian escaped from the corridor and pushed down a door to get outside to the balcony. Directly below was a horse standing there. Sucking in a deep breath, he jumped down, shouting in fear as he landed on the horse. Adjusting himself quickly, the horse started running across the bridge and towards the forest, racing and jumping over logs and small streams until he reached the familiar leaf curtain. He broke through the curtain and rode the horse all the way up to the foot of the tower.

“Emma!” He screamed, unable to climb up himself from how weak he was feeling, “Emma! It’s Killian! Let down your hair!”

Moments later, the long stream of blonde hair fell from the tower and reached Killian. He grabbed onto it and was suddenly pulled up. He knew she was strong, but that was quite the impressive show of strength. Once he reached the window ledge, he jumped in, out of breath.

“Emma,” he sighed, “I thought I’d never see you-.”

His eyes widened when he saw Emma just in front of him, her wrists locked together by chains and a piece of cloth over her mouth. She was trying to scream out to him, to warn him about something, but before he could figure it out, he felt a sharp stabbing pain in his side and fell to the ground.

“Now look what you’ve done, Emma,” Regina pouted, holding a piece of the broken glass from the mirror in her hand as she watched Killian crumble on the ground, “Well, here’s the bright side; at least our secret can die with him.” Emma started to scream as tears fell down her face, “And as for us!” Regina stated, pulling on the chain, dragging her across the floor, “We are going where no one would ever find you again.”

Emma grunted in protest, kicking Regina in her leg and backing away from her, rubbing her cheek against her shoulder as an attempt to remove the cloth from her mouth.

“Emma! Enough!” Regina commanded, “Stop fighting me!”

Emma pushed the cloth down off her chin and coughed, “No!” She protested, “I won’t stop. For every minute of the rest of my life I will fight! I will never stop trying to get away from you!” She panted, out of breath as she watched Killian helplessly dying on the ground just a few feet away from her, “But, if you let me save him, I will go with you.”

“No, Emma! You can’t!” Killian begged.

“I’ll never run,” Emma bargained, “I’ll never try to escape. Just let me heal him... and you and I will be together. Forever. Just like you always wanted. I promise,” the tears were forming in her eyes as she started to cry, her heart breaking at the sight of Killian bleeding out, “Just let me heal him,  _ please _ !”

Regina looked between the two of them and crossed her arms, giving her a small nod. She flicked her wrist and the chains were undone. Emma scrambled to her feet, then fell at Killian’s side, propping him up on her knees as she looked at his wound.

“Killian…” she whispered, “I’m so sorry. Everything is going to be fine-.”

“Emma, no…” Killian said roughly.

“Trust me,” Emma said, placing a bit of her hair on his body.

“No-.”

“Stay with me. Just breathe.”

“You have to let me go, Swan.”

Emma shook her head, a tear of hers falling onto his cheek, “but I can’t let you die…”

“But if you do this... Then you will die…”

“No…” Emma soothed him, pushing back his black hair, “It’ll be okay.”

“Emma, wait,” Killian pleaded, placing his hand on her cheek.

He quickly pulled her closer to him, grasped onto a shard of glass beside him, and cut her hair with it, the blonde locks falling to the floor, leaving her hair turning brown and falling to her waist. 

“Killian?” Emma panicked, “No…”

“No!” Regina screamed, looking at the hair as it gradually turned black, “What have you done!?”

She looked at her hands and her skin as it grew older, paler, and weaker. Regina slowly started to sink down to the floor, screaming in pain as she got older and older until she was just bones on the ground under the cloak. Even then, the bones continued to dry out until there was absolutely nothing but dust in the middle of the floor.

Relieved that Regina was now gone, Emma turned to Killian, looking at the sacrifice he made to save her. She shook her head, placing her hands on either side of his cheek.

“No, no, no, no, no, Killian…” she whispered as his eyes started to begin to close, “Look at me, I’m right here, don’t go, stay with me–.”

“Emma-” Killian coughed.

“What?” Emma sobbed.

With the last bit of breath he had left, he said, “You were my new dream.”

Emma’s face turned red as she cried over him, trying to put a smile on her face. “And you were a part of mine…”

“You’d have me…” he breathed, “beside you… with our children… telling stories to them… together…?”

“Of course,” Emma sniffed, “I love you…”

“I love you too…” and with his last breath, he placed his hand on her cheek to wipe of a tear while whispering, “Emma…”

His eyes closed and his hand dropped to the ground with a thud. It felt like it happened in slow motion as Emma begged to hold on to every moment he was breathing. Her heart sank as she wailed over the dead body of the man who made his way into her heart in such a short time. Just as quickly as she saw her future in front of her, it was taken away. She placed her forehead against his, still whispering the last bit of that incantation in hopes that something would work to bring him back to her.

“Heal what has been hurt,” she muttered, unable to sing it through her tears, “Change the fate’s design. Save what has been lost. Bring back what once was mine.”

At the sign that nothing was working, she leaned down and gave a small kiss to his lips for the first and last time. Just as her lips touched his, Emma swore she saw a rainbow in front of her as a light breeze came in and brushed her new brown hair out of her face. She looked down at the wound in his chest and saw it stitch back together again, the blood stains fading from his leather vest.

With a gasp, Killian woke up, sitting straight up and coughing. He blinked several times and looked at Emma, who was too awestruck and surprised to say or do anything.

“Emma…” he said, “but how?

“My magic…?” Emma finished, “and the incantation… and the kiss... it healed you…”

“Well then,” he said, adjusting himself so he rested against the wall of the tower, “Sounds like true love’s kiss to me. I guess you’re stuck with me, darling.”

Emma’s cheeks were still stained with tears, but with a triumphant laugh, she grabbed the collar of his shirt and pulled him in for a real kiss, which stunned him. Her kiss was the one thing that completely undid him. It was a kiss he never wanted to live without. Right there, in each other’s arms, the future they wanted, the dreams they could envision together, were real and right before their very eyes.


	12. Chapter 12

In the throne room, the day after the celebration of their daughter’s 28th birthday, King James was pacing about in front of the thrones while his wife, Queen Snow White, rested in her chair, her eyes closed in contemplation. It was often something they did in order to plan out their next move in finding her. Their silence was interrupted by the sound of the doors opening and a guard rushing into the room.

“General Graham,” Snow said, “What brings you here unannounced?”

“Your majesties,” Graham panted, “After 28 years-.”

“You’ve found her!?” James cheered.

“Yes, my king,” Graham answered, “Come quickly, she is on the terrace.”

Before Graham could even escort them there, James and Snow were already racing from the throne room, down the halls, through a labyrinth of corridors before they reached the doors to the terrace. They stopped suddenly and looked at each other.

“Charming…” Snow whispered, “What if she’s not who we expected her to be? What if she doesn’t love us-.”

“She’s our daughter,” James assured her, “She has been kidnapped for 28 years… No doubt she’s been as desperate to see us as we have been to see her. Don’t worry. We will love her just the same.”

Snow nodded.

James cleared his throat and pushed the door open, seeing a brunette woman with her hair falling down to her waist while wearing a green dress and standing next to a man dressed in leather with a hook for a left hand, his right hand securely in her left hand. They turned around at the sound of the doors opening. Emma squeezed Killian’s hand. He squeezed it back before she let go and approached the dark haired woman, who seemed to be trembling at the sight of Emma; a feeling Killian knew quite well. 

“Emma?” Snow asked, touching her daughter’s face.

“Yes…” Emma answered, “I know it’s been a while… and I’ve never really met you before… but I kind of need a family… and I was wondering if-.”

Snow took Emma into her arms, hugging her tightly and whispering to her, “You found us…”

Emma squeezed her eyes shut and hugged her mother back, squeezing her even tighter. James slowly came towards them, completely and delightfully surprised at how beautiful she was. Emma opened her eyes, her vision blurred from the wet tears.

“Father?” She asked.

James burst into laughter and ran to the other side of his wife and daughter, squeezing them both in his arms as they fell to their knees, hugging each other and crying with each other as a family. Snow looked up at Killian, the man standing there watching with a smile on his face.

“Are you the one who saved her?” Snow asked.

“Well, your majesty,” Killian said with a bow, “I’d like to think your princess saved herself, but I did help… a little-.”

Snow grabbed him and pulled him into the group hug with them, which proved to Killian where Emma got her impressive strength from.

What happened next were the most joyous and festive days the kingdom had ever witnessed. The dancing, the music, the feasts, and the libations lasted for an entire week and if Killian Jones was honest with himself, he doesn’t remember most of it. Meanwhile, as time went on, Emma and her mother never forgot about the little people down in the dwarf tavern. Through their efforts, the dwarfs were able to live out their dreams. They even found a way for Grumpy to be reunited with his long lost fairy love. The rest of them set up shops and performed for everyone in the kingdom. 

The royal guard was never stronger since Killian vowed to do no more harm to the kingdom. Per Princess Emma’s request, Robin was set free and joined the royal guard. It took a while for their friendship to rekindle, but Killian and Robin were on the mend and becoming best mates once again. With Graham in charge, things couldn’t be more peaceful. The dungeons were practically empty. 

“At last, Emma was home and she finally had a real family. She was a Princess worth waiting for. Beloved by all. The Princess led her kingdom with all the grace and wisdom that her parents did before her. And as for Hook, he started going by Killian again, stopped thieving, and basically turned his whole life around, but the real question that resounded throughout the entire kingdom was whether or not Killian and his princess were going to get married. Well, I can now tell you that after years and  _ years  _ of asking, and asking, and  _ asking _ ...I finally said yes.”

“Killian…” Emma scolded, rolling her eyes as they stood over the baby crib.

“Fine, fine,” Killian groaned, “I asked her.”

“And we finally got our happy ending,” Emma smiled, looking down at the tiny black haired princess in the crib.

“We sure did, love,” Killian mused, leaning over and kissing his wife on her precious lips.

“The wedding was even better,” Emma said proudly, “Everything went exactly as we planned…” 

“Well, almost…” Killian admitted.

“Almost?” Emma asked worriedly. 

“Yeah…” Killian nodded, “You see, Henry and Robin may have lost the rings and scoured all over town looking for them.” 

“And they made it back in time!?” Emma gasped.

“I didn’t want you to worry!" Killian shrugged.

“Are you telling Leia one of your stories again?” Snow asked as she entered into the nursery of the sea-side house in Storybrooke, “Which one was it tonight, the real one or the one based off Rapunzel’s story?”

“Am I supposed to tell my daughter that her father hit on me for weeks before I finally kissed him in hopes he would leave me alone?” Emma asked.

“Or that I must have died at least three times to get where we are?” Killian suggested.

“Besides, it’s almost the same story, just the friendlier version,” Emma defended, looking down at the sleeping baby girl, “and one day… when she’s older… we’ll tell her what really happened.”

“And hope that she can find something like that as well,” Killian added.

“Take it from someone who has had two babies,” Snow sassed, “If you don’t leave now, she’ll wake up in an instant and you’ll have to tell the story all over again to get her to sleep.”

Killian and Emma Jones nodded before looking back at their perfect little angel; their product of true love. Leia Jones. Emma picked her up as she slept, squirming about a little bit in her mother’s arms.

“Sweet dreams, Leia…” Emma whispered, kissing her baby’s forehead before passing her onto her father.

“Goodnight, sailor,” Killian said before rocking Leia blissfully and placed her carefully back in her crib.

As Killian closed the door to the nursery behind him, Emma sighed and wrapped her arms around her husband’s neck. “So… this Princess and this Pirate in the story we told…”

“Aye, love?” Killian asked, pressing his forehead against his wife’s.

“Do you think they lived happily ever after?” 

Killian nodded, a smile growing from ear to ear, “Aye… that they did…”

And so, the pirate kissed his princess on her lips, holding her in his arms as they smiled at each other while standing outside their beautiful daughter’s nursery, on the second floor of their seaside house, in a beautiful town called Storybrooke, with their family surrounding them where they all lived happily ever after.


End file.
